School Counseling Learning Aims

The mission of the school counseling program is to prepare professional school counselors to be systemic change agents and leaders in educational reform. Steeped in the Jesuit tradition, the Loyola school counseling program, its faculty, and its curricular experiences inspire and transform school counseling candidates to learn, lead, serve, and advocate for children and youth in a diverse, global society. Within this context, the education of the whole person is paramount; the standards-based curriculum is rigorous; faculty expectations are high; commitment to the community and social justice is valued. Candidates are challenged to understand the ethical dimensions of personal and professional life and to examine their own values, attitudes, and beliefs as they prepare to create, implement, and evaluate data driven, comprehensive developmental school counseling programs aligned with national standards, state guidelines, and district curricula.

School Counseling Learning Aims

Successful completion of the M.Ed. or M.A. in school counseling enables candidates to:

describe and adjust to societal changes and trends in a multicultural society;

develop, implement, and evaluate effective research based interventions which facilitate systemic change designed to maximize student success;

demonstrate the ability to form effective helping relationships with diverse individuals and groups;

understand the facilitative factors that influence the helping process, including effective counselor and client characteristics; racial, ethnic, and sexual identity factors that might bear on the success of the helping process; collaborative/consultation skills; and philosophical and theoretical frameworks that undergird the process;

translate group development, dynamics, leadership styles, and counseling methods and skills into effective interventions with students, parents/guardians, faculty, staff, and community stakeholders;

integrate an understanding of instruction and classroom management into effective classroom guidance interventions;

demonstrate the capability to apply educational planning, career development and decision theory, and knowledge of sources of career information to student development and aspirations;

use formal and informal assessment procedures to identify needs, focus interventions, and assess counseling intervention and programmatic outcomes and effectiveness;

understand and use counseling research and evaluation results to guide counseling practice;

exhibit professional and personal behaviors, skills, and attitudes associated with competence in the core areas specified by CACREP Standards;

demonstrate ethical behavior based on the ethical standards for ACA and ASCA, and understand the legal issues relevant to school counseling;

exhibit the professional leadership and social advocacy skills necessary to serve as an effective change agent and educational leader; and

advocate for oppressed, marginalized, or underrepresented groups, parents/guardians, and students in order to close the academic achievement gap